Congratulations to the finalists of the Third Annual Bravo Awards!
Additionally, if you’d like to view every puzzle and hunt which was nominated at least once (but may not have necessarily been selected as a finalist), you can view the full list of 200+ puzzles and 20+ hunts here.
Hunts
| A | Small Hunt of the Year | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CMU Spring Hunt 23 - Prehistory | Puzzle Hunt CMU |
| 2 | Edric 23 - The 2023 DUAL Puzzle Hunt | Edric Haleen, Deusovi, Stratton Vakirtzis, Anthony Hoover |
| 3 | First Day on the Job | Jen McTeague |
| 4 | Grand Hunt Digital 23 | /r/ConstructedAdventures |
| 5 | P.I. Hunt 9 - R.T.3 SEARCH | Jack Lance |
| 6 | Puzzled Pint Sept 23 - Quantum Physics | Bill Gardner |
| B | Large Hunt of the Year | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BAPHL 22 - Boston Area Puzzle Hunt League 22 - Bogus Academic Professors Having Lunch | - |
| 2 | BPH23 - Brown Puzzlehunt 23 - Blueno Resurrection Society | Brown Puzzle Club |
| 3 | GPH23 - Galactic Puzzle Hunt 23 - GalactiCardCaptors | ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ |
| 4 | Halpin 23 - Mark Halpin’s Labor Day Extravaganza 23 - Two on the Isle | Mark Halpin |
| 5 | Huntinality 3 - Hunts Upon a Time | Cardinality |
| 6 | Shardhunt - The Library of Babel | 17th Shard |
| C | Extremely Large Hunt of the Year | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABCDEFG - Admiral Boötes’ Cosmic Discovery Expedition: Further Galaxies | teammate |
| 2 | CCBC13 - Cipher & Code Breaking Competition 13 | simplicissimus |
| 3 | MITMH23 - MIT Mystery Hunt 23 - Puzzle Factory | teammate |
| 4 | MSPH23 - Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 23 - Puzzle University | - |
| 5 | P&KU2 - Puzzle and Key Universe 2 | 北京大学推理协 |
| D | Best Direction | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPH23 - Galactic Puzzle Hunt 23 - GalactiCardCaptors | ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ |
| 2 | Huntinality 3 - Hunts Upon a Time | Cardinality |
| 3 | MITMH23 - MIT Mystery Hunt 23 - Puzzle Factory | teammate |
| 4 | P.I. Hunt 9 - R.T.3 SEARCH | Jack Lance |
| 5 | Shardhunt - The Library of Babel | 17th Shard |
| E | Best Visual Design | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BPH23 - Brown Puzzlehunt 23 - Blueno Resurrection Society | Brown Puzzle Club |
| 2 | GPH23 - Galactic Puzzle Hunt 23 - GalactiCardCaptors | ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ |
| 3 | Huntinality 3 - Hunts Upon a Time | Cardinality |
| 4 | MITMH23 - MIT Mystery Hunt 23 - Puzzle Factory | teammate |
| 5 | MSPH23 - Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 23 - Puzzle University | Matt Du, Dana Young |
| F | Best Narrative | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CMU Spring Hunt 23 - Prehistory | Puzzle Hunt CMU |
| 2 | GPH23 - Galactic Puzzle Hunt 23 - GalactiCardCaptors | ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ |
| 3 | Huntinality 3 - Hunts Upon a Time | Cardinality |
| 4 | MITMH23 - MIT Mystery Hunt 23 - Puzzle Factory | teammate |
| 5 | P.I. Hunt 9 - R.T.3 SEARCH | Jack Lance |
| 6 | P&KU2 - Puzzle and Key Universe 2 | 北京大学推理协 |
| 7 | Shardhunt - The Library of Babel | 17th Shard |
| G | Most Innovative Structure | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CCBC13 - Cipher & Code Breaking Competition 13 | simplicissimus |
| 2 | Edric 23 - The 2023 DUAL Puzzle Hunt | Edric Haleen, Deusovi, Stratton Vakirtzis, Anthony Hoover |
| 3 | GPH23 - Galactic Puzzle Hunt 23 - GalactiCardCaptors | ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ |
| 4 | MITMH23 - MIT Mystery Hunt 23 - Puzzle Factory | teammate |
| 5 | P.I. Hunt 9 - R.T.3 SEARCH | Jack Lance |
| 6 | Shardhunt - The Library of Babel | 17th Shard |
Puzzles
| H | Best Meta Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Admiral Bootes : Metameta (ABCDEFG) | Alex Pei, Bryan Lee, Harrison Ho, Herman Chau, and Ivan Wang, with art by Ariel Uy, Catherine Wu, Herman Chau |
| 2 | Before & After : Hard Half Meta (Edric 23 DUAL) | Deusovi, Edric Haleen |
| 3 | Hall of Innovation : Innovation Meta / The Blueprint : Factory Floor Meta (MITMH23) | Catherine Wu, Ivan Wang, Jacqui Fashimpaur, and Vinjai Vale, with art by Olga Vinogradova |
| 4 | Kero : Final Boss Battle (GPH23) | Colin Lu |
| 5 | Mathematics Meta (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff |
| 6 | Period of Wyrm : The Wyrmhole Metameta (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, Brian Shimanuki, Jacqui Fashimpaur, and Olga Vinogradova |
| 7 | The Death of the Library / (redacted name) : Floor 3 Metas (Shardhunt) | Adeline Wong, Thomas Gordon, and Ella Sheffield |
| 8 | Transmutation Station : The Witch’s Hut Meta (Huntinality 3) | Bryce Cai |
| I | Best Word Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deconstructed Crossword (ABCDEFG) | Harrison Ho, Herman Chau, and Ivan Wang |
| 2 | Haloanaka (Halpin 23) | Mark Halpin |
| 3 | Inscription (MITMH23) | Asher Walkover |
| 4 | Long Cube (Huntinality 3) | Bryce Cai |
| 5 | Spelling Bee (GPH23) | Josh Alman, Jenna Himawan, and Nathan Pinsker |
| 6 | This Puzzle is Just Another Regular Cryptic (MITMH23) | Ivan Wang |
| 7 | Two for the Price of One by Will Nediger | Will Nediger |
| J | Best Logic Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ⚫ (Huntinality 3) | Max Chang |
| 2 | Dahan Conundrum (ABCDEFG) | Lumia Neyo and Patrick Xia |
| 3 | Identification (Shardhunt) | Yanaphat Hemrattaphan |
| 4 | Miss Yu (GPH23) | Amon Ge |
| 5 | Moonick (GPH23) | Yannick Yao |
| 6 | Tinder (CMUS23 Prehistory) | Kevin Zhou (Kaz), Farid Khuri-Makdisi, Summit Wei |
| 7 | World’s Smallest Logic Puzzles (MITMH23) | Alex Gotsis, Alex Pei, and Ivan Wang |
| K | Best Twist on a Classic Style | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🔲 (Huntinality 3) | Ryan Liu, Dan Simon |
| 2 | Bird Conundrum (Huntinality 3) | Dan Simon |
| 3 | Financial Crimes (BPH23) | Alex DeFranco, Thomas Mowen |
| 4 | Hall of Archaeology (MITMH23) | Asher Walkover and Nicholai Dimov |
| 5 | How the Other Half Lives (MSPH23) | Justin Melvin, Jonah Ostroff |
| 6 | MATH 7 Practical Applications of Green’s Theorem (MSPH23) | Mike Sylvia |
| 7 | World’s Largest Logic Puzzle (MITMH23) | Alex Pei |
| L | Best Physical Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exhibit of Colors (MITMH23) | Mona Wang, Tracey Lin |
| 2 | Find Oren (BPH23) | Ian Rider, Oren Kohavi |
| 3 | Flexibility (Shardhunt) | Thomas Gordon |
| 4 | QR Code Sequence (Pi Hunt 9 / RT3) (see note to view) | Jack Lance |
| 5 | Subterranean Secrets (MITMH23) | Catherine Wu, Katie Dunn |
| 6 | Weaver (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, Brian Shimanuki, Tracey Lin |
| 7 | Word Wide Web (BAPHL22) | Jen McTeague |
| M | Best Interactive Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | beeBay Fulfillment Center (GPH23) | Violet Xiao and Anderson Wang |
| 2 | Collage (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, Brian Shimanuki, and Jacqui Fashimpaur |
| 3 | Final Keypad Puzzle (Pi Hunt 9 / RT3) (see note to view) | Jack Lance |
| 4 | Keep Out (Huntinality 3) | Darren Lee |
| 5 | Pushing the Rules (Shardhunt) | Thomas Gordon |
| 6 | Quandle (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan |
| 7 | The Lernaean Hydra (MSPH23) | Justin Melvin |
| N | Best Puzzle in a Non-English Language | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Book of Fixed Stars (MITMH23) | Justin Yokota, Lumia Neyo, Mona Wang |
| 2 | 万古大魔法书 (P&KU2) | Winfrid, 榆木华 |
| 3 | 提词卡 (CCBC13) | Leaving Leaves |
| 4 | 无字天书 (CCBC13) | Yao Yu |
| 5 | 爱慕猫体邻国斯必克二 (P&KU2) | River |
| 6 | 神奇宝贝在哪里 (CCBC13) | Yao Yu |
| O | Best Puzzle Which Doesn’t Fit Another Category On This List | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5D Barred Diagramless with Multiverse Time Travel (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, with help from Holly Sipek |
| 2 | City and Forest (ABCDEFG) | Brian Shimanuki |
| 3 | Flight of the Babelbees (Shardhunt) | Yanaphat Hemrattaphan |
| 4 | Learning from Our Old Mistakes (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff, Justin Melvin |
| 5 | Pyramid Schemes (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff |
| 6 | Ted Tales (ABCDEFG) | Catherine Wu and Katie Dunn |
| 7 | The Launch of This Puzzle Has Been Delayed (Shardhunt) | Ella Sheffield, Mitchell Rosenberg, Yanaphat Hemrattaphan, and Julie Sheffield |
| 8 | X-Talk (ABCDEFG) | Brian Shimanuki |
Puzzle Aspects
| P | Best Introductory Round or Hunt | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asteroid Database Round - Cipher & Code Breaking Competition 13 (CCBC13) | simplicissimus |
| 2 | CMU Orientation Hunt 2023 | Puzzle Hunt CMU |
| 3 | Easy Half - The 2023 DUAL Puzzle Hunt (Edric 23 DUAL) | Edric Haleen, Deusovi |
| 4 | Placement Test Round - Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 23 (MSPH23) | Dana Young, Derek Young |
| 5 | Round 1 - CMU Fall Hunt 23 (CMUF23 - Magic) | Puzzle Hunt CMU |
| 6 | Round 1 - Grand Hunt Digital 23 | /r/ConstructedAdventures |
| Q | Best Introductory Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fruit Math (Huntinality 3) | Bryce Cai, Dan Simon |
| 2 | Now I Know (GPH23) | Ben Yang |
| 3 | Spinosaurus (CMUS23 Prehistory) | Kevin Zhou (Kaz) |
| 4 | The Bakery (Huntinality 3) | Pichusuperlover |
| 5 | You’re Telling Me (MITMH23) | Liam Thomas |
| R | Funniest Puzzle | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Backbeat (Shardhunt) | Thomas Gordon |
| 2 | Infinitely Many Hogs (and Logs) (GPH23) | Violet Xiao |
| 3 | Interpretive Art (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, Ivan Wang |
| 4 | One of the Puzzles of All Time (MITMH23) | Austin Lei, Cameron Montag |
| 5 | Ozymandias (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff, Mike Sylvia |
| 6 | Sociology of Education (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff, Mike Sylvia |
| 7 | The Lernaean Hydra (MSPH23) | Justin Melvin |
| S | Best Solution | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5D Barred Diagramless with Multiverse Time Travel (MITMH23) | Alex Irpan, with help from Holly Sipek |
| 2 | ARECIBOAR (GPH23) | Amon Ge |
| 3 | Dahan Conundrum (ABCDEFG) | Lumia Neyo and Patrick Xia |
| 4 | Gessner Mom (GPH23) | Kevin Matthew Li |
| 5 | KarAO3ke (Shardhunt) | Adeline Wong |
| 6 | Kero (GPH23) | Colin Lu |
| 7 | Long Cube (Huntinality) | Bryce Cai |
| T | Nuovo Award for Puzzling Innovation | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Puzzle - Learning from Our Old Mistakes (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff, Justin Melvin |
| 2 | Puzzle - The Lernaean Hydra (MSPH23) | Justin Melvin |
| 3 | Round - Conjuri’s Quest (MITMH23) | Dominick Joo, Nathan Pinsker, Patrick Xia, with art by Jun Huo |
| 4 | Round - CS (MSPH23) | Amos Eshel |
| 5 | Round - Hall of Innovation (MITMH23) | Catherine Wu, Ivan Wang, Jacqui Fashimpaur, Vinjai Vale |
| 6 | Round - Sociology (MSPH23) | Jonah Ostroff |
| 7 | Round - Trial of Silence (Huntinality 3) | Dan Simon, Bryce Cai, Pichusuperlover |
People
| U | Best Non-Puzzle Contribution to the Hunt Community | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bot Be Named - A discord to GSheets automation bot. | Soni (TalesFromTim) and Kevin Esslinger |
| 2 | Bravo Awards - An award series to recognise awesome things in puzzlehunts. | Various |
| 3 | Google Sheets Puzzle Tricks - A repo of many useful Named Functions. | Jonah Ostroff (SoftFro) |
| 4 | List of Puzzlehunts - A nearly exhaustive list of puzzlehunts (with links). | Brian Chen (betaveros) |
| 5 | Puzzle Wiki - A wiki with round the year updates about everything related to puzzlehunts. | Various |
| 6 | Puzzle.js - A tool to make and embed simple interactive puzzles in HTML pages. | Kenny Young (tabascq) |
| 7 | TPH-Site, Spoilr and Puzzup - Infrastructure for hosting puzzlehunt websites, handling hunt management and editing/testing puzzles. Based on earlier infrastructure by ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈ and Palindrome. | teammate |
| 8 | What’s That Flat? - An NPL Flats guide. Based on earlier work by Hudu, Brillig, Treesong, and Sibyl. | David Millar |
| V | Best Puzzle-Based Media | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “A looksy backsy on Huntinality 3” (Blog) | Pichusuperlover |
| 2 | “Accessibility, Americanisms, and the location-attendance question” (Blog) | Thomas Gordon (MetaTerminal) |
| 3 | “Cute Mage’s Tower” (Website/Blogs) | Jen McTeague (Cute Mage) |
| 4 | “mystery hunt write-up” (Blog) | Lumia Neyo |
| 5 | “Puzzlvaria” (Website/Blogs) | Dan Katz |
| 6 | “Two hundred puzzles, fifty years later” (Blog) | CJ Quines |
| 7 | “Writing MIT Mystery Hunt 2023” (Blog) | Alex Irpan (Titandrake) |
| 8 | “RockmanEX3” (Youtube) | |
| 9 | “Christopher Night” (Youtube) | |
| 10 | “Cypher House” (Youtube) | |
| 11 | “pzl_slvr” (Youtube) | |
| 12 | “QuizzyDan” (Twitch) |
| W | Other Significant Community Contributions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Altizio (djmathman) | For puzzle streams and contributions to the logic puzzle community. |
| 2 | David Millar and Jamie Hargrove | For organising Puzzler Pride 2023, a showcase of logic puzzles from LGBTQ+ authors from the community. |
| 3 | LeavingLeaves | For creating puzz.link assistance user script for logic puzzle solving |
| 4 | Lennard Sprong (X_Sheep) | For maintaining puzz.link website and ongoing technical contributions to the logic puzzle community. |
| 5 | Pedro | For maintaining Pedro’s Works, a website with support for solving many logic puzzle genres. |
| 6 | Swaroop Guggilam and Deb Mohanty | For reinventing Penpa+, and creating LMI and LMI Expo, websites for curating, publishing and solving logic puzzles. |
| 7 | Thomas Snyder | For creating Grandmaster Puzzles, a community with thousands of logic puzzles over the years. |
| 8 | Will Shortz | For curating New York Times crosswords for decades. |
Due to exceptional circumstances, the Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded by judges instead of voted on by the community.
(To access the QR Code Sequence, click the link, press L, then type in 11111111111111111111111011111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111101111101011101010111111111111111111111111111110111111111111111011. The QR Code Sequence is the set of 6 dots arranged vertically in the bottom left.)
(To access the Final Keypad, click the link, press L, then type in 11111111111111111111111011111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111101111101011101010111111111111111111111111111110111111111111111011. The QR Code Sequence is the rightmost puzzle node.)